Church of San Geremia (Tomb of St. Lucy)

The Story

The Church of San Geremia, on Venice's Grand Canal in the sestiere of Cannaregio, is the shrine of St. Lucy of Syracuse, one of the most beloved virgin martyrs of the early Church, whose relics rest in a chapel behind the high altar. According to the traditional account, Lucy was a young Christian of Syracuse in Sicily who consecrated her virginity to Christ and distributed her dowry to the poor. Denounced during the persecution of the emperor Diocletian, she was martyred around the year 304. Her name, from the Latin lux, "light," made her feast on December 13 a celebration of light in the darkest days of the year, and her veneration spread across the Christian world; she is among the women named in the Roman Canon of the Mass. Her relics traveled far: taken from Syracuse to Constantinople in the eleventh century, they were brought to Venice after the Fourth Crusade in 1204 and enshrined in a church dedicated to her. When that church was demolished in 1861 to build the city's railway station, which still bears the name Venezia Santa Lucia, the relics were translated to neighboring San Geremia, where they have remained ever since. In 1955 the future Pope John XXIII, then Patriarch of Venice, had a silver mask placed over the saint's face; after a brief theft in 1981, the relics were recovered unharmed on her feast day, December 13. Today pilgrims and Venetians alike visit San Geremia to venerate the saint, above all around December 13, when her feast is celebrated with particular devotion in Venice, in Syracuse, and across Scandinavia, where Santa Lucia processions keep her memory bright.

Church Recognition

St. Lucy is venerated as an early virgin martyr named in the Roman Canon of the Mass, with her feast on December 13 in the General Roman Calendar; her relics are enshrined for public veneration at San Geremia under the Patriarchate of Venice.

Catholic Teaching

St. Lucy's martyrdom witnesses to the supreme fidelity to Christ the Church honors in her martyrs (CCC 2473), and the veneration of her relics is a cherished expression of popular piety and the communion of saints (CCC 1674, 946–962).

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Practical

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Pilgrims venerate the relics of St. Lucy in her chapel at San Geremia, steps from the Venezia Santa Lucia railway station named for her earlier church; devotion peaks on and around her feast of December 13, marked with special liturgies in Venice.

Go Deeper

Information for visitors is available through the Patriarchate of Venice; for St. Lucy's place in the Church's prayer, see the Roman Canon (Eucharistic Prayer I) and the Catechism on martyrdom and the veneration of the saints (CCC 2473, 1674).